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The Maine shore circa 1900. "The beach at Old Orchard -- Hotel Velvet and Ocean Pier." The roof of whose "Big Casino" urges us to "Eat Velvet, Drink Moxie." Panorama made from three 8x10 glass negatives. View full size.
One needn't look too close to see the difference between Atlantic and Pacific beaches with this photo. The Atlantic beaches feature more gradual sloping, which produce larger tidal shifts and warmer/shallower swimming waters, while Pacific (think Santa Monica, etc.) beaches have colder waters, bigger surf, and fewer storms. There's more at play, of course.
http://bid.grandeestateauctions.com/VINTAGE-VELVET-ICE-CREAM-METAL-SIGN_...
[The Velvet Kind, a popular ice cream brand around the turn of the century, has made multiple cameos here on Shorpy. -Dave]
This may come as a surprise. The Hotel Velvet burned down on August 15, 1907.
Winter storms and fires have taken their toll. The pier was built in 1898. The original length was 1,825 feet. It lost a few hundred feet the first winter it faced. The large casino at the end used to host big band music during its heyday. I remember in the 1960s there were many photos of the famous bands hanging on the walls. At that time the casino building housed a miniature golf on the first floor and a small Aquarium on the second floor. The casino building itself collapsed into the sea in the famous Blizzard of 1978.
The pier now is under 600 feet in length and at low tide is often completely out of the water.
More on its history here http://www.oobpier.com/history.html
The hotel's basement was known as "The Velvet Underground," right?
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